American swimmer Michael Andrew has announced that he’s committed to the upcoming inaugural edition of the FINA Champions Series.
In an Instagram post on Monday evening, Andrew posted that he has been selected to race the 50 breast and 50 fly and would compete at all three meets.
The new FINA series, which was announced at the peak of fervor of the upstart International Swimming League (ISL), will award over $3.9 million in prize money across a 3 meet series. Athletes will be divided into teams (FINA has not announced yet exactly how those teams will be split up), points will be awarded, and team champions will be declared and awarded additional prize money.
Andrew’s presence at the meet is of particular note because he is one of the three named lead plaintiffs in a pending class action lawsuit against FINA over FINA blocking ISL events in 2018. After blocking the ISL event, FINA announced the champions series with a very similar format.
Andrew thanks the ISL‘s founder Konstantin Grigorishin in his post, saying that he believes that Grigorishin’s league is one of the major reasons that FINA created the new high-dollar series.
The 19-year old Andrew is a 5-time World Champion in short course meters and the 2018 Pan Pac Champion in the 50 free. He’s also a 4-time World Junior Champion and finished 4th in the men’s overall standings at the 2018 FINA World Cup Series.
Andrew is scheduled to represent the United States in the 50 breast, 100 breast, 50 fly, and 50 free at next summer’s World Championships.
Prize Money
- Individual Prize Money: US$ 2’436’000
- Relay Prize Money: US$ 648’000
- Overall Team Prize Money: US$840’000
Format
- To include 50, 100, and 200m races in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly; as well as a 400 free and a 200 IM
- Timed Finals only – 4 swimmers per race
- 4 relay races per meet
- Meets will be held over 3 days, from Friday to Saturday
THE WHEN AND THE WHERE
- So, three meets. The first will be in Hangzhou, China, April 27 to 28, 2019. Hangzhou just held the 2018 SC World Championships.
- The second meet is scheduled two weeks later, May 11-12, in Budapest, Hungary.
- The third meet will be in the United States, scheduled for May 31-June 1 in Indianapolis at the IUPUI Natatorium.
The point is now swimmers have the options and control over how to make their living. Swimming may be their first love and passion, but the moment your NCAAs days are over or you run out of your parents money, it becomes how you keep a roof over your heard and support a family. Sponsers, which are multiplying and getting better every day, mostly care about the dressels/Ledecky. It’s business. These leagues, or at least the leagues I hope to see, will allow someone who say has a 22.3 LCM 50 free after college and maybe could develop into a 21.7 LCM guy if he could focus on swimming for the next 4-5 years. The underdogs get their chance. Think… Read more »
I think that you are failing to notice how little public interest there is for swimming, and how there is so much more to life than swimming. But to each their own
Of course there’s more to life than swimming, I’m talking about the people who choose to continue on. Remember Kurt Warner before he was part of the 99-01 greatest show on turf Rams? He had been cut from the nfl and was stocking shelves at a grocery store while waiting to find a team. These leagues might let guys like Josh Schneider(just a cut below traveling team USA) make a better living.
Ragnar – I think your last statement is what makes these things interesting to me. I’m not as concerned about how much Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps are making. Putting aside the arguments about “someone is making the money, it should be the athletes not the bureaucrats,” those mega stars are setting themselves up for life. I want guys like Josh Schneider to be able to keep training, to see if they can have a breakthrough at 28 or 29, to make a little money and buy some time before deciding what their next best career move is. I think that depth and richness to the sport will ripple through in ways that haven’t been widely discussed and will really… Read more »
Well, even Peter Pan had to grow up.
No one is going to pay to see a 22+ 50 freestyler .
There was an ad on swimswam for the new P2 athlete Aaron Greenberg. What’s his best? 22 mid?
No one is paying to see him tace . He has a fulltime job & gets some stuff from P2 .
Exactly who will be there if they are going down to WJ & SC medallists ?
and also a Pan-pacs gold medalist who is one of the best swimmers in the world in a few different strokes
Interesting announcement, but I love the sentiment. Yes I’ll gladly take your free money while I also work to take you down!
yeah i dont know what to think of that
Yes… It’s a conflict of interest.
Way to stand up for the ISL. I’d be careful crossing the Oligarch.
My thoughts too. He’s been critical of FINA and supportive of ISL. Seems like an odd flip in the announcement?
Free money? Are you getting any? No? I guess you have to earn it.
It’s great that swimmers are starting to earn more and more money